Haul Away, Boys, Haul Away
by Quietly Making Noise
Summary: When her fiancee is press-ganged and forced into becoming a pirate, what can Mariel do except give chase? Summary and title liable to change.


A/N: This looks like it'll be a long fic, so hold tight! Takes place after the film, with Captain Jack to appear and about three main OCs, maybe more. Reviews greatly appreciated, as always. Many thanks. xxx  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
The city of Nassau was accustomed to receiving long-haul ships, but every time one arrived in port, the entire town still turned out to greet it.  
  
Merchants and traders bustled down to the docks as the ship drew closer to port, eager for their deliveries and orders. On the stretch of sand near the jetty, a young woman stood on the beach, the wind toying with her long dark hair.  
  
She watched the incoming vessel with idle interest, thinking only of the men who would flood her father's tavern later that night. Its sails billowed out as a gust of wind sent it gliding through the water to the docks.  
  
The young woman went back up the beach, sweating beneath her heavy dress. She longed to be free from its stifling weight, and decided to run home and change. She would be wanted at the inn tonight anyway.  
  
She let herself into the tavern, and made straight for the tiny staircase in the back. One of the other barmaids was lugging up extra barrels from the cellar. She called a greeting, 'Hullo Mariel,'  
  
'Isobel, there's a ship coming in. I think we'll need more than just one fresh barrel of rum tonight.'  
  
Isobel smiled and retraced her steps to gather more drink. Mariel disappeared up to her little room at the rear of the big house. Her window overlooked the bay, and as she watched, the ship swept majestically into the port. Lines were cast to the dock hands, and the anchor dropped into the water with a dull splash. Mariel closed her shutters and struggled out of her dress.  
  
She chose a plain, lighter weight dress for the evening. Her father had bought her an expensive fashion item from London from the last trading ship, but the corset lay gathering dust in the closet. Mariel didn't really care what other men thought of her.  
  
She came back down the staircase and met her father coming the other way. His eyes looked her over, and alighted on her tangled hair. 'Mariel! Do something with your hair.'  
  
Mariel groaned softly and went back up the stairs. She brushed her hair reluctantly and caught half of it back in a bun, leaving a curtain of neat waves that draped down her back. She went back down the stairs. 'Happy?'  
  
Her father beamed, 'You look lovely, as usual. This ship should have the wine I ordered from France, so we'll do good business tonight. Isobel!' he called, looking past Mariel to the cellar doors, 'Round up the other girls, will you?'  
  
The girl emerged from the cold basement and obediently set off down the main street to fetch the dozen or so other barmaids.  
  
'Do you want me to collect the cargo?' asked Mariel, hoping the answer was yes.  
  
'No, I've sent Liam to supervise that.' Her father opened his mouth to speak more, but fell silent as the door opened and a sailor strutted in.  
  
'Welcome, my good sir. What can I get you?' Her father slipped into his jolly innkeeper mode, and Mariel knew that the night's work had begun...  
  
-=-  
  
The gently ticking clock hanging on the wall showed a quarter to eleven. Mariel suppressed a yawn. The other girls were attending to customers, and she had nothing to do.  
  
She felt a tugging on her apron and turned to see Liam standing behind the bar with her. His brown eyes were unfocused through tiredness as he whispered, 'Miss Mariel, may I go home now?'  
  
Mariel paid the lackey five shillings for his work, and the boy scuttled off into the night, clutching his precious coins. Raucous laughter erupted from one corner of the tavern. Mariel felt stifled in the intensely male atmosphere. Every so often, she felt the lusting eyes of an intoxicated sailor slide over her.  
  
She untied her apron and stuffed it behind the bar. A couple of sailors glanced at her as she slipped through the back door and went out down the cold street.  
  
She made her way down to the port, where the ship rested in the darkness. Its huge bulk rocked gently in the swell from the ocean.  
  
Mariel jumped as a hand clapped her shoulder. She spun around and smiled as she recognised the tall muscled youth behind her. 'Tobias! You scared me...' She wrapped her arms about her fiancée, who smiled back and kissed her tenderly.  
  
'Quiet night?' her asked, his palm cupping her face and tilting her chin for another kiss.  
  
'Yes. I was so bored. Not one fight in three whole hours.'  
  
Tobias laughed quietly, 'You always enjoy a good brawl.'  
  
Mariel smiled, noting the streak of tomboy within herself that hadn't quite dispelled with her childhood. 'Fancy a walk along the beach in the moonlight?' Tobias nodded and caught her hand in his.  
  
Together they strolled along the shore, leaving two sets of prints in the wet sand. The waves were docile, sweeping smoothly up across the beach.  
  
Mariel was engrossed in the sheer bliss she always felt when she was alone with Tobias, the touch of his hand against hers; the brush of his linen shirt against her bare arm; the way his long hair wafted gently past her face...  
  
Tobias stopped suddenly and squinted out over the dark water. 'Look.'  
  
Mariel peered into the darkness, 'What is it?'  
  
'There's another ship coming in...' Tobias let go of her hand and walked further towards the sea, staring.  
  
'It's a barque,' he announced presently, as the ship drew closer in the brisk winds. Mariel felt her hair come down from its style and fall free around her face. She narrowed her eyes and could just make out the distinctive three-masted vessel, with the square main sails and the triangular aft sails.  
  
She drew nearer to Tobias as the ship came closer, 'Aren't barques mainly used by--'  
  
Tobias hissed at her to be quiet. 'Don't say the word,' he muttered. Mariel scoffed inwardly. As if simply saying the word "pirate" would change whoever the crew of the barque were.  
  
'They could have followed the ship along the trade route,' she mused. Her head was full of tales of the pirates that prowled the seas. Give some of the older sailors a couple of drinks and they'd tell you tales from dusk till dawn unless you fed them a few more and knocked them out.  
  
She sensed Tobias's posture stiffen as the dread of what was occurring came over him. Mariel shrank closer to him, 'They are pirates, aren't they?'  
  
As if in answer to her assumption, the ship's sails were taken in, and the muted splash of an anchor dropping rang out over the water.  
  
Mariel was suddenly afraid. She reached for Tobias's hand. Two rowboats detached themselves from the ship and came scudding over the waves, their progress helped by the incoming tide.  
  
Tobias and Mariel looked at each other. 'We have to warn them,' whispered Mariel.  
  
'Who do we tell?' said Tobias unhappily. 'They'll all be too drunk to care. They might leave us alone and just go for the ship...'  
  
Both their gazes slid to the huge ship sitting in the water. Mariel looked out over the water again and saw the moonlight shine on naked steel. Her heart knocked against her ribs.  
  
'Tobias, I think we should...'  
  
There was a loud bang, and a puff of gunpowder arose from the pirate barque anchored a little way out into the bay. Tobias dived on top of Mariel as a heavy cannonball exploded into the wooden jetty that ran along the dockside. The cracking of splintered wood echoed around the cove.  
  
Tobias helped her up, and together they ran for cover amongst the rocks. The two boats lurched onto the beach with the next wave, and two gangs of men poured out. Mariel and Tobias watched from their hiding place as they swarmed up the broken jetty and onto the ship, leaving the port to its drunkenness.  
  
Tobias breathed a sigh of relief, 'Thank God...'  
  
Mariel clutched his arm suddenly. Two pirates had noticed their tracks in the sand, and were following them straight towards their hiding place. The first was big and thickset, and seemed to be more brawn then brains. The second was slimmer and quieter in his movements.  
  
Tobias grabbed Mariel's hand and together they tried to creep away through the haphazard rocks. The second pirate looked up suddenly, and met Mariel's gaze as she risked a glance backwards. He snickered and launched himself towards her.  
  
Mariel screamed as the pirate's clammy hand touched her ankles. She lost her balance on the slippery rocks and fell awkwardly, bending her wrist. Pain flared up in the joint and she fought not to cry out again.  
  
The bigger man was scrambling after the lighter-footed Tobias. He realised Mariel was not with him and darted back, dodging his pursuer and throwing himself at the pirate who seized her. They grappled with each other, and Mariel drew herself into a shadowy niche in the rocks, clutching her injured wrist.  
  
The big man came back as the pirate got a hold on Tobias and wrapped a lithe arm around his neck. 'This'll do us. Strong, quick, agile. `E'll do well on board.' He looked sideways at Tobias, 'How'd you feel about takin` a dead man's shoes, mate?' Mariel couldn't place his accent, but he sounded as though he was of Irish decent.  
  
Tobias struggled vainly, 'Go to hell, pirate!'  
  
The pirate sniggered and tightened his hold. Mariel stared in terror as Tobias fought to breath in the pirate's grip. 'Captain Jack'll be very pleased with you, mate. We'll be taking ye back t` the ship now. Come quietly like, an` we won't harm ye.'  
  
'What about the girl, Snare?'  
  
The pirate called "Snare" shrugged his thin shoulders, 'Leave `er. I presume she's your little strumpet?' he questioned, releasing his grip on Tobias slightly. Tobias gasped great gulps of salty air as his windpipe was opened, but said nothing.  
  
Snare shrugged again and pushed Tobias into the arms of the big man. 'Tie `is hands, Jake, just to be sure.'  
  
Tobias used the chance as he was released from Snare's arms to lash out at the bigger pirate. He caught him in the stomach, and winded him. Snare's eyes flashed and he tackled Tobias to the sand, forcing him awkwardly so his arms were pinned behind his back. He pressed his sharp knee into the small of Tobias' back.  
  
'Look, "mate". Any more fuss like this, and I'll slit her throat and make ye watch.'  
  
Snare's threat made Mariel's blood run cold. She froze with very real fear, her wrist forgotten. 'Promise to be a good boy?' asked Snare patronisingly. Tobias grunted and Snare let him stand up. Tobias threw a glance to Mariel, and their eyes met for what could easily have been the last time.  
  
Mariel could only watch as her love was bundled into one of the boats and rowed swiftly out to the pirate ship. Snare looked back and blew her a kiss. Mariel recoiled at the notion.  
  
Eventually the boat baring her fiancée disappeared in the darkness. Mariel stayed huddled in the rocks until the pirates had pillaged the ship, and crowded onto the one remaining rowboat with raucous curses. The boat followed the other one to the ship, leaving Mariel alone one the shore.  
  
-=-=-=-=-=-  
  
A/N: How did it go? Please take two minutes to drop a comment before I post the next chapter; every review I get improves my writing a little bit! As an explanatory note, I used ` in place of ' because it just looked too confusing with my style of speech marks. 


End file.
